is a Japanese

adult An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social an ...

visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...

developed by Moonstone and released on May 27, 2005, for

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. The original game was a collaboration project where the company

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

helped to produce it, though Moonstone did the majority of the work involved. ''Gift'' is Moonstone's fourth title, and was followed up with an adult fan disc called ''Gift Rainbow-colored Stories'' released on January 27, 2006, for Windows. It was later ported to the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

and

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...

. The

gameplay Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game. The term applies to both video games and Tabletop game, tabletop games. Gameplay is the connection between the player and the game, the player's overcoming of challenges, and t ...

in ''Gift'' follows a plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the five female main characters. The story revolves around Haruhiko Amami, a male high school student living in a town where a rainbow is always seen in the sky. The game premiered as the second best-selling PC game sold in Japan for the time of its release, and charted in the national top 50 three more times afterwards. A set of five

drama CD Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

s, one for each heroine, was released by Lantis between September 2005 and February 2006. There have been six

light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...

s written, a five-chapter illustrated story series that serialized in the '' Dengeki Hime'' magazine, two

Internet radio Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...

shows produced, along with a

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series serialized in

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...

seinen is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word means "youth", but the term " manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like '' Weekly Manga Times'' and '' Weekly Man ...

magazine ''

Comptiq is a Japanese computer game magazine, first published in 1983, by Kadokawa Shoten. The name "Comptiq" came from combining the words "computer" and "boutique". Originally a PC magazine, its focus shifted from computers to computer games. As of ...

'' between January 2006 and February 2007. A 12-episode

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

adaptation, produced by

Oriental Light and Magic , (formerly Oriental Light and Magic), is a Japanese animation and film studio headquartered in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, founded on October 3, 1990, by former Studio Gallop and OB Planning employees. They are best known for producing the ''Pokémon ...

, aired in Japan between October and December 2006.

Gameplay

The gameplay requires little interaction from the player as most of the duration of the game is spent on simply reading the text that will appear on the screen; this text represents either

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...

between the various characters, or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Every so often, the player will come to a "decision point" where he or she is given the chance to choose from options that are displayed on the screen, typically two to three at a time. During these times, gameplay pauses until a choice is made that furthers the plot in a specific direction, depending on which choice the player makes. There are five main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. In order to view the five plot lines to their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices during the decision points in order to further the plot in an alternate direction.

Plot

''Gift'' is a story that revolves around high school student Haruhiko Amami and his strong connection to ''Gift'''s mysterious power. The town of Narasakicho, where ''Gifts story takes place, has two distinguishing characteristics: a rainbow that seems permanently fixed in the sky no matter the weather, and an ability known as ''Gift'' possessed by all its inhabitants. ''Gift'''s power can only be evoked by each person once in a lifetime, and is able to grant a single miracle. To be successful, a ''Gift'' must reflect the shared feelings of both the giver and the receiver. If the feelings are not mutual, the ''Gift'' is distorted and has the ability to wreak havoc on the surrounding area. When this happens, a black streak appears in the rainbow above town until ''Gift'' is used correctly. The story begins as Haruhiko's younger sister, Riko Fukimine, returns home after several years away. Beginning with her appearance, Haruhiko's life starts to change very quickly and feelings of the past begin to surface once more.

Characters

Main characters

; : (PC),

Yūki Tai is a Japanese voice actor. He is currently affiliated with Remax. He has Vietnamese ancestry. Filmography Anime *'' Azusa, Otetsudai Shimasu!'' as Harumaki Shunpei *'' Battle B-Daman: Fire Spirits'' as Grey Michael Vincent *'' Bedaman'' as ...

(PS2/anime) :Haruhiko, a second-year student at Shimano Gakuen, is the main protagonist of ''Gift''. He is a childhood friend of Kirino and the older brother of Riko, though they are not related by blood. He tends to be blunt in his mannerisms and likes to tease Kirino constantly. Whenever Gift is concerned, he is adamant that it is a helpful and worthwhile power to possess, for he claims that he owes his own life to it. His mother died many years ago, soon after his birth. It was then revealed that ''Gift'' was in fact created on the same day he was born by his mother Haru Amami before she died. But because ''Gift'' can only be sent or received once in a person's lifetime, in order for both Riko and Kirino's ''Gift'' be removed, he has to remove the source ''Gift'' itself which is embodied by the everlasting rainbow in the sky. But as a result, he also lost his life for a while before Riko found him. ; : (PC),

Ai Shimizu is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actress and professional wrestler. She has a career as a singer, signed to Lantis (company), Lantis. She has released 14 singles (including Split album, joint and Image song, character singles) and four ...

(PS2/anime) :Riko is Haruhiko's younger sister in name, although they are the same age and are in the same class together in school after she enrolls. In third grade, she joined Haruhiko's family due to family circumstances and Haruhiko immediately treated her as if she really were his little sister. When they were younger, she left for several years, only to appear again one day out of the blue years later. The reason she returned was to be with Haruhiko as he is her first love and has continued to be in love with him. She is currently a second-year at Shimano Gakuen and shares the same class as Haruhiko. ; : (PC), Ui Miyazaki (PS2/anime) :Kirino is Haruhiko's childhood friend and next door neighbor. They are such good friends that she often comes over to his house in the mornings before school to not only wake him up, but also to make him breakfast. She tends to be the unfortunate receiver of much of Haruhiko's teasing due to her timid nature, though she does not mind it much, as she is in love with Haruhiko. She is one year younger than Haruhiko and is a first-year student at Shimano Gakuen. ; : (PC), Shiho Kawaragi (PS2/anime) :Rinka is a very tough but beautiful girl who is able to defend herself without even breaking a sweat. She is a master at the Ousō style of swordsmanship and was even a teacher of the

kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords ( shinai) as well as protective armor ( bōgu). It began as samurai warriors' customary swordsmanship ex ...

club in junior high school. She has a series of special training devices near the gym which are dangerous to nearly anyone except for her. She has an older sister who has died years ago. Unknown to most people, she has a liking for Shoujo Manga. She is a first-year student at Shimano Gakuen. ; : (PC), Ryoko Shintani (PS2/anime) :Chisa is Kirino's best friend. Her father is the founder of Fujimiya Corporation so she is considered a businessman's daughter and raised as a princess. She is on good terms with Rinka. Unknown to everyone, though, she is in fact a witch that often flies around town on her broomstick. She has a small crow familiar named Jinta. She seems to be able to respond to Haruhiko's banter about things very well. She is a first-year student at Shimano Gakuen and is Kirino's classmate. ; : (PC),

Ami Koshimizu is a Japanese actress and singer. She has voiced many different types of characters, from young girls to adult women, as well as boys and animals. Her roles include leads such as Ryuko Matoi in '' Kill la Kill'', Charlotte E. Yeager in '' Str ...

(PS2/anime) :Yukari, or "Yukarin" as she is known by her friends, is a third-year student at Shimano Gakuen, and she also works as a maid at the Fujimiya Residence. She acts older than her age and is skilled at treating injuries. She tends to speak with a quiet voice. Her reason that she works there is that she has lost a portion of her past memories, and seems to have an innate ability to talk to animals. Her always likes is to cheer for others in life by saying: "Please do your best." ; : (PC), Kazutoshi Hatano (PS2/anime) :Masaki, known as Maki to his friends, is one of Haruhiko's good friends who is obsessed with things having to do with science. He will often invent outrageous devices that eventually go out of control. ; : (PC), Yukiko Iwai (PS2/anime) :Nami is a girl who has been seen clinging to Rinka ever since Rinka saved her in the past. She is very enthusiastic when it comes to anything concerning Rinka, which often causes her to rave about how amazing Rinka is. She has shown herself to be jealous of others who may seem to be more than just friends with Rinka, which could be because she is in love with her.

''Gift: Prism'' additional characters

; : (PS2/anime) :Sena is a second-year student in Shimano Gakuen and also is the head of the School's Student Council, who is recommended by the former head. She is the official Idol of Shimano Gakuen whose popularity is comparable to that of Riko's. Sena has a liking for penguins and is obsessed with getting as many of those toys as possible. She is able to collect ''Gift'' from every male student in Shimano Gakuen who confesses his feelings to her, but she doesn't go out with any of those guys even once. In addition, this ''Gift'' to her is easily obtainable, but it doesn't make her happy even if she has that ability. ; : (PS2/anime) :Nene is a third-year student in Shimano Gakuen and is a daughter of a wealthy man whose financial ability far exceeds that of the Fujimiya Household. Although she is popular with the first and second-year students in the school, many classmates dislike her for her extremely high-handed nature due to her upbringing. This results in her having no one to call a friend in school. Her father is a successful IT entrepreneur while her mother is a famous celebrity making Nene a real society princess. But she has a bad habit of carrying only credit cards of all sorts and no cash which makes buying in school canteens very difficult. She always replies to anyone who tries to confess their feelings to her: "Call my lawyers first!" ; : (PS2/anime) :Miyu is a second-year student in Shimano Gakuen who is a quiet girl and always carry a book with her. She has a collie dog and seems to always peeping at Haruhiko from the shadows after he has helped her before. Both her parents have died and Miyu herself has been living on royalties paid to her mother's literary works which are mainly romance novels and thus also affected her ambition to become a novelist. She belongs to the literary club at school and loves reading. She is also actively writing stories and posts the works onto her own website.

Development and release

Koizumi Hotaru managed the production of ''Gift'', and Lantis, a Japanese company that specializes in the music industry, also cooperated with production. Characters in the game were designed by the following; Mitha, Koma Miyama, and Misuzu Takano. ''Gifts art was illustrated by Amerika Tamugi, Yuu Touka, and Karuya Yuka, with the addition of character designers Mitha, Koma, and Misuzu. Shigezo Tsuchiyama handled the programming for ''Gift'', and Kure worked as the scenario planner. ''Gift'' was first introduced to the public in Japan as a limited edition version on May 27, 2005 as a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

playable on a

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

PC. The regular edition was released on June 10, 2005, also as a DVD, and then another version was released on December 16, 2005 as a

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...

. A fandisc called was released on January 27, 2006 as a CD-ROM. A version for the

(PS2) with

content removed, called ''Gift: Prism'', was developed by Sweets and released in Japan on October 19, 2006 in limited and regular editions. This PS2 version has added CGs to replace the adult scenes and also has added three additional heroines that the protagonist can pursue in addition to the original five. The PS2 game was re-released on August 9, 2007 at a lower price. An

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

edition of the PS2 version was released on April 16, 2009. A

version by CyberFront was released on February 2, 2012.

Adaptations

Print media

A five-part illustrated story series was serialized in MediaWorks' '' Dengeki Hime'' magazine between the February and June 2005 issues. Each issue focused on a different ''Gift'' heroine. A

series based on the game comprising five volumes was published by Harvest. Each of the novels covers one of the five heroines starting with Riko, and going through with Kirino, Rinka, Chisa, and Yukari, in that order. The first novel was released on December 25, 2005, and the final novel was released on May 1, 2006. The novels were written by Japanese author Mako Komao, with accompanied illustrations provided by Mugi Komeda, Mitha, Koma Miyama, and Mamoru Naruse. A separate light novel called ''Gift Prism: Over the Rainbow'' was written by Hiroshi Sukeno; the novel's front illustration was by Mitha, and Yukiwo worked as the main illustrator. It was published by

on November 7, 2006. ''Gifts

adaptation, illustrated by Yukiwo and titled ''Gift: Under the Rainbow'', was serialized in Kadokawa's

'' magazine between January 10, 2006 and February 10, 2007. Two ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' volumes were released for the 13 chapters produced. Two

art book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind ob ...

s based on ''Gift'' have been published. The first of these was a 39-page long fan book titled ''Gift First Fan Book'', which was published by

Broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the Brassicaceae, cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large Pseudanthium, flowering head, plant stem, stalk and small associated leafy gre ...

in May 2005. A 111-page art book, titled ''Gift Artworks'' was published by MediaWorks on August 1, 2006.

Audio CDs and radio shows

A vocal mini album was released by Lantis for the visual novel ''Gift'' on July 7, 2005, containing eight tracks. Lantis released an original soundtrack for ''Gift'' fan disc ''Gift Rainbow-colored Stories'' on January 12, 2006, titled ''Gift - Niji-Iro Stories 'Seven Color Ribbon, containing 25 tracks. Two albums from the anime were published by Lantis. The first of these is ''Gift ~eternal rainbow~ Character Song Mini Album'', which comprises five different character songs for each of the heroines. An original soundtrack for the anime was released on January 24, 2007, containing 38 tracks. There are five drama CDs based on the series published by Lantis. Each of the CDs covers one of the five heroines starting with Riko, and going through with Kirino, Chisa, Rinka, and Yukari, in that order. The first CD was released on September 22, 2005, and the final CD was released on February 22, 2006. Lantis Net Radio has hosted two ''Gift''-related shows: ''Gift Rainbow Station'' (aired from October 11, 2005, to May 23, 2006), and ''Gift Rainbow Homeroom'' (aired from July 14 to December 29, 2006). The two radio shows feature different on-air personalities.

Anime

A 12-episode

television series adaptation, titled , was produced by

and directed by Shigeru Kimiya. It aired in Japan between October 6 and December 22, 2006. The opening theme is "Niji Iro Sentimental" by Miyuki Hashimoto and the ending theme is "Kokoro Niji o Kakete" by Misato Fujiya. Six DVD compilations volumes were released between December 22, 2006 and May 25, 2007, each volume containing two episodes. An extra episode was released as a DVD-exclusive

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

on June 22, 2007.

Episodes

Reception

According to a national sales ranking of

bishōjo game A or is "a type of Japanese video game centered on interactions with attractive girls". ''Bishōjo'' games are similar to ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' books in the way of narrative, in which the game tells a story but the player may make c ...

s sold in Japan, the PC release of ''Gift'' premiered at No. 2 during the second half of May 2005. ''Gift'' charted further in the rankings, ranking No. 9 in the first half of June, No. 34 in the second half, and lastly, No. 44 in the first half of July. On Getchu.com, a major redistributor of visual novel and domestic anime products, ''Gift'' ranked No. 2 in PC sales in Japan for May 2005, the month and year of its release, only falling behind the visual novel ''Princess Witches'', which ranked first. In the following month June, the ranking fell to No. 11. In the entirety of 2005 on Getchu.com, ''Gift'' ranked No. 32. The fan disc ''Gift Rainbow-colored Stories'', ranked first in January 2006, the month and year of its release, on Getchu.com. In the following month, the ranking fell to No. 13. For the first half of 2006, ''Gift Rainbow-colored Stories'' ranked No. 12 on Getchu.com.

References

External links

''Gift'' visual novel official website

''Gift'' PlayStation 2 official website

Lantis Net Radio's ''Gift'' website

Anime official website
* * {{OLM OVAs 2005 Japanese novels 2005 video games 2006 anime television series debuts 2006 Japanese novels 2006 manga 2006 video games 2007 anime OVAs Anime television series based on video games Bishōjo games CyberFront games Drama anime and manga Eroge Fantasy anime and manga Fantasy video games Harem anime and manga IOS games Japan-exclusive video games Kadokawa Shoten manga Lantis (company) Light novels Manga based on video games Moonstone (company) games OLM, Inc. OVAs based on video games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation Portable games Romance anime and manga Romance video games Seinen manga Video games developed in Japan Visual novels Windows games